We have a bizarre tradition at our house, every night after we put our son to bed he sneaks out for “one more thing.” It’s usually an extra hug or a sippy cup refill. After that he’s happy and goes to sleep. Lately we’ve made it a bit more fun by waiting by his door and then surprising him.

Last week as he was diving back into his bed with a gleeful scream he neglected to see the sippy cup and face-planted right into it. He quite literally forgot to look before leaping.

There are two ways to approach a project, looking and leaping. The ‘looking’ approach is cautious and weighs the pros and cons before starting. If the project is doomed, stop before wasting time and resources. For most projects it is wise to look ahead and see if it is worth the effort before starting.

Now we come to the ‘leaping’ approach. Much like leaping into a bed before checking if it is clear first, this approach can lead to disaster and pain. However, there are times where this approach is the only option available. When there are not enough pros and cons to make a confident decision, we must go with our gut. If our gut feeling is to go for it, then we must leap.

Is there a chance that we might crash and fail? Of course. Failing is learning. My son hasn’t swan dived into his bed since his incident. But there is the chance that we succeed beyond our dreams.

Is there something you have wanted to write, learn, or experience that you haven’t because of fear of the unknown? Go for it, the only thing you have to lose is time.

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About Jodi

Jodi L. Milner is a writer, mandala enthusiast, and educator. Her epic fantasy novel, Stonebearer’s Betrayal, will be published November 2018 by Immortal Works Press. She has been published in several anthologies. When not writing, she can be found folding children and feeding the laundry, occasionally in that order.

14 Responses to Look before you leap

Three comments apropos of today’s excellent post! You really got my mind going with that great preaching, although you may not have known that is what you were doing (at least for me!).

First: Jesus speaks of starting a task and not looking back, and in the second reference he warns of jumping into a task without first counting the cost.

B: Jesus sends out his disciples and commands them to not prepare, but to take the journey as it comes! Interesting “contradiction” to the first reference (not really!)

And III: (Doing my favorite outline heading errors) We had a very smart dog named Elvira who knew how to read a situation, and also understood both verbal and body language. When she would ask to be taken out, we would say “wait a minute,” and she would walk to the door and wait patiently to go out. If we said “OK! Let’s go”, but did not start to get up out of the chair, she would plant herself in front of us and would not make a move until she saw us actually getting up to go! A wonderful dog who knew how to look before she leapt!

So sorry…Can’t believe that I left out the references: First one is Luke 9:28-33 and the second is Matthew 10:9-10 Still pondering on this, plus I finally decided to blog about “truth/Truth.” Mixed results I’m afraid – at least in my own mind. Maybe it’s because there really is no answer!

I have a question for your genius self: When writing a blog or opinion, is it ever correct to include “in my opinion,” or “to me,” etc. in the body of the post? Seems redundant in a way, but I also don’t want to give the impression that I speak as an authority – just someone with ideas.

It can go either way, when the statement is obviously your opinion then including “in my opinion” is redundant. When a statement walks the line and might be misunderstood then clarifying that it is your opinion is helpful. Blogs in general are thought of as a place where people can state their thoughts so most of the time I don’t think that it is necessary. There is no “hard and fast” rule or a correct/incorrect way of handling opinions. If it seems redundant, than it probably is. Thanks for the compliment, I don’t get referred to as genius often! 🙂

Aww, I’m sorry about your son, great to know that he is okay!
And what a great way to turn something negative into an inspiring story. I’m a big fan of ‘leaping’ 🙂 I never really used the ‘looking’ approach and sometimes I fell, sometimes crushed sometimes failed, learned from them, got up and leaped again 😉